Leeds county lines drug dealer 'exploited vulnerable boys'

Levite Manaka, 25, used teenage boys from Leeds and Bradford to ferry heroin and crack cocaine in a "county lines" operation

A man from Leeds who exploited "vulnerable" teenage boys in a county lines drug network has been jailed for seven years.

West Yorkshire Police said 25-year-old Levite Manaka used children from Leeds and Bradford to ferry heroin and crack cocaine.

Police said Manaka, of Roundhay Road in Harehills, was arrested in May 2020.

He was found with a mobile phone linked to a number shown to be directing street-level drug dealers.

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Evidence proved Manaka was controlling four boys as young as 14 between February and May 2020, police said.

Three were reported missing by concerned parents and arrested in Bridlington and elsewhere in East Yorkshire with crack cocaine, heroin and cash, the force said.

West Yorkshire Police said Manaka 'bragged' on social media, posing with a wad of cash

"Manaka also produced drill rap videos under the name Levz Montana, in which he bragged about his lavish lifestyle and glorified drug dealing and gang violence," police said.

He was jailed at Leeds Crown Court on Friday for seven years for intent to supply Class A drugs and other drugs offences.

Det Insp Kevin Daly, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "The world of drug dealing is a dangerous one and our evidence showed the young people Manaka was controlling had been subject to serious violence and harm."

Manaka is due to be deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo on his release.

West Yorkshire Police said the term county lines described gangs and organised crime groups who groomed children, young people and vulnerable adults to carry out illegal activity on their behalf, often trafficking drugs between counties.